Instax-Love

My entire family is a little obsessed with these cute little cameras and these cute little photos.  There's just something about the immediate gratification of actually taking a photo and then holding it in your hands.  It's too easy in this day and age to take a photo and just keep it on your phone or computer.  Polaroids are back because we all love something tangible.  We all love watching the film as the picture magically appears.  

Over the years, I've managed to pick up several of these cameras, as well as the Instax printer.  They are all a little different, but pretty much do the exact same thing - print Instax photos.  I started with the basic Instax Mini 8 camera (shown on the right above).  There's really not much to this one - it's the basic point and click Instax.  This one is perfect for my kids to play around with.  It's hit or miss with the photos, but that's the fun part of Polaroids, I think.  I've found that outdoor photos turn out much better than indoor photos.  Vibrant and colorful photos also look better printed than white-washed out photos.

I picked up the middle Fuji Instax Mini 90 Neo Classic because it gives you a little more control over settings and modes.  It's easier to handle and easier to carry around in my bag.  I've played with the settings some, but for the most part, the resulting images seem pretty similar to the Instax Mini 8.  The party and macro settings are pretty cool, and I love the ease of shooting with this one.  It's not as cumbersome as the Mini 8.

The Instax printer was a complete and utter splurge before my trip to Barcelona last summer.  I was curious as to how it worked and what the images would look like.  I love that I'm able to print photos from my phone.  It's cool to pull out at a party or get together and let other's print their photos as well.  It's cute, it's fun, but it pretty much does the exact same thing as the other two cameras. 

As you can see, these photos span quite a number of years.  The majority of our Instax photos are kept in a little luggage box.  My kids love to dump them out and and look through all of the photos.  I have a zillion scrapbooks and mini albums, but these photos are probably the most "looked at" pictures in our house.  Go figure.

Incorporating these photos into my projects is always super fun!  I usually add the photos that I've taken during trips and vacations into little mini albums, or slip them into a pocket/envelope in my Project Life books.   This teeny tiny WRMK Instax album is super cute and is a fun place to store the photos.  My travelers notebook is another awesome place where I add in my Instax photos. 

What about you?

Do you have one of these cute little cameras or printers?  How do you use your Instax photos?